Luke Newton Read Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” As Colin Bridgerton

On June 19, Bridgerton actor Luke Newton stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where he was asked to give a dramatic reading of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” — in character as Colin Bridgerton.

“Everyone thinks that you can make anything sound romantic and sexy,” Fallon said, giving the actor “some random lines” to read out. “Maybe you’d be able to show us how Colin Bridgerton would say them if he was talking to Penelope,” the host added.

Looking into the camera, the actor read the lyrics, “Say you can’t sleep / Baby, I know / That’s that me / Espresso.” In the background, Bridgerton-style orchestral music played.

He also read lyrics to a viral satirical song by Megan Boni (aka @girl_on_couch on TikTok), to Ryan Gosling’s Barbie song, and reimagined the classic Friends line “We were on a break.”

But back to “Espresso.” Dubbed “the song of the summer” by Rolling Stone, Carpenter’s track became her first top five on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the No. 1 spot in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Australia.

The song is the first drop from her forthcoming album, Short n' Sweet, and was followed by the single “Please Please Please,” the music video for which stars boyfriend Barry Keoghan.

While Newton is known by Bridgerton fans for his acting chops, he shares Carpenter’s passion for music. Before playing Penelope Featherington’s love interest, he was a member of the former British boyband South 4. In 2012, the band released the song “Cougar Town” before eventually going their separate ways.

During the production of Bridgerton Season 3, Coughlan pranked Newton on set by playing the song in the middle of a ballroom scene.